Alleged drones in El Paso airspace cast spotlight on Mexican cartels’ growing arsenals

Cars cross the Paso del Norte International Bridge at the US-Mexico border between Ciudad Juárez, bottom, and El Paso, Texas, top, on Wednesday. Photograph: Christian Chavez/AP

An alleged incursion by Mexican cartel drones into US airspace and the sudden closure of El Paso’s airspace has drawn renewed attention to the use of high-powered weapons by organized crime groups in Mexico.

There were conflicting accounts on Wednesday about whether the city’s airspace was shut down due to cartel drones or a disagreement over the Pentagon testing of counter-drone technology, but experts say the use of drones by drug gangs at the border has become increasingly common.